USS Gudgeon (SS-567) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Gudgeon (SS/AGSS/SSAG-567), a , was the second ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

to be named for the gudgeon

Gudgeon (fish)

Gudgeon is a common name for a number of small freshwater fishes of the families Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water....

, a species of small fresh-water minnow

Leuciscinae

Leuciscinae, commonly known as true minnows, are a subfamily of small fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae.However, the term minnow is also used as an unspecific term for tiny freshwater and saltwater fish, especially those used as fishing bait....

Construction and commissioning

Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...

in Kittery, Maine

Kittery, Maine

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...

. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

on 11 June 1952 sponsored by Mrs. Robert A. Bonin, widow of the first Gudgeon

USS Gudgeon (SS-211)

USS Gudgeon , a Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gudgeon). Her keel was laid down by the Mare Island Navy Yard. She was launched on 25 January 1941, sponsored by Mrs. William S. Pye, and commissioned on 21 April 1941 with Lieutenant Commander...

's last commanding officer, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

on 21 November 1952 with Commander Robert M. Carroll in command.

Service record

After builders' trials, Gudgeon sailed for Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, where she joined Submarine Squadron 1 (SubRon 1), Submarine Division 1 (SubDiv 1), 18 July 1953. Local operations and training exercises continued until 11 April 1954, when Gudgeon sailed to the mainland for antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises along the Washington coast. A Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Mare Island Naval Shipyard

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...

overhaul occupied the remainder of the year, and Gudgeon returned to Pearl Harbor 9 March 1955. She sailed 21 Jul 1955, for the first of five WestPac tours, visiting Yokosuka, Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

, and Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

before returning to Pearl Harbor on 30 January 1956. Local operations out of the Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

an port, overhaul, special secret operations, and a second trip to the West Coast took Gudgeon through the next 18 months.

Sailing from Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

on 8 July 1957, Gudgeon began a history-making cruise around the world, making the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force's flagship the first American submarine to circumnavigate the globe. After exercises at Yokosuka, Gudgeon sailed west 26 August 1957. As she made her way around the world for the next six months, the submarine docked at Asian, African and European ports before a triumphal entry into Pearl Harbor 21 February 1958, eight months and 25,000 miles (40,000 km) since taking departure.

First conversion

After extensive overhaul, Gudgeon again settled into the peacetime local and special operations, training exercises, and ASW activities. Three WestPac cruises, in 1959, 1961, and 1963, took her to Japan for exercises with the Seventh Fleet as well as to Subic Bay

U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay

U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...

and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

for liberty. The alternate years, 1960 and 1962, saw Gudgeon heading back to the mainland, where she trained and exercised along the Washington and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

coasts.

Second conversion

Gudgeon returned from the Far East to Pearl Harbor 1 August 1963, and for the next two years operated in Hawaiian waters. She departed Pearl Harbor 29 November and arrived San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, on 9 December for overhaul at Mare Island. The ship was cut in half and an 18-foot (5 meter) section was added during a conversion which gave the submarine new and larger engines as well as the PUFFS

Puffs

Puffs is a brand of facial tissue manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Introduced in 1960, it is among the leading national brands of facial tissue in the United States...

passive sonar installation. Modernization was completed in April 1967 and Gudgeon returned to duty in the Pacific Fleet.

[1967-1983]

Gudgeon was reclassified an Auxiliary Research Submarine, AGSS-567, and then a Guided Missile Auxiliary Submarine, SSAG-567, 5 November 1979.

Gudgeon served in the Pacific until she was decommissioned on 30 September 1983 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 6 August 1987.

TCG Hızırreis (S 342)

In 1983, Gudgeon was transferred by lease

Lease

A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...

to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

and renamed TCG HIZIRREİS (S 342). She was purchased in 1987 and served until 2004. She is berthed as a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

at the Izmit Museum Ships and is open to the public.

External links

navsource.org: USS Gudgeon
hazegray.org: USS Gudgeon
"Life on the Gudgeon, a Navy Fast Attack Submarine", additional photographs of the USS Gudgeon

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